Man indicted in wrong-way OVI crash on US 35 in Dayton

Bond was set at $100,000 for a Dayton man with several prior OVI convictions who is accused of driving the wrong way while impaired during a February three-vehicle crash.

Frank Ronald Johnson, 76, was arraigned Tuesday in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court after he was indicted Aug. 31 by a county grand jury for two counts each of aggravated vehicular assault and operating a vehicle while under the influence, all felony charges.

Johnson was driving a 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer east in the west lanes of U.S. 35 in Dayton just before 7:30 p.m. Feb. 6 near James H. McGee Boulevard, according to a Dayton Police Department crash report.

The Trailblazer struck a westbound 1999 Toyota Camry headed after its driver swerved but was unable to avoid the collision. The impact forced the car to rotate counterclockwise and then overturn before coming to rest on its passenger side.

The Trailblazer then struck a 1995 Ford F-150 pickup truck head-on, the report stated.

The driver of the Camry, a 19-year-old Riverside woman, suffered serious injuries and was taken to Miami Valley Hospital.

The pickup driver was not injured, but Johnson was taken to Miami Valley Hospital with minor injuries. The report stated Johnson’s blood-alcohol content level tested at .234, which is nearly three times Ohio’s legal driving limit of 0.08.

Johnson’s license was suspended at the time of the crash, and he had prior misdemeanor OVI convictions in February 2016 in Vandalia Municipal Court and in March 2016 and January 2017 in Dayton Municipal Court, according to his indictment.

Johnson is not in jail and was ordered on electronic home monitoring if he posted bond.

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